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Why the goal isn’t to ask, “What would Jesus do?”

At first, we come as babes in Christ, and everything Jesus says seems hard:

serve yourself last

love your enemies

live by faith

pray

But, says Dallas Willard, “True Christlikeness, true companionship with Christ, comes at the point where it is not hard to respond as he would.” (The Spirit of the Disciplines)

Willard is saying that true Christlikeness is not asking, “What would Jesus do?” in a particular situation. Rather, he’s saying that when we’re like Christ, we won’t have to ask the question because it’ll come naturally. We’ll respond as Jesus would.

When this happens, the life of Christ will have become our life.

Thus, when Paul says to, “…clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 13:14), he’s not saying to put on your Christ coat when dealing with the horrible neighbors, and then take it off when you’re back inside with your kids.

Putting on Christ is putting on his way of life, permanently and totally.

When we’re babes in Christ, it’s appropriate to ask, “What would Jesus do?” because we’re learning a new way of life.

But the goal is to not have to ask it anymore because his life will have become ours.

Chris believes you can love your work. He's the Vice President of Human Resources for EnergyCAP, Inc., where he helps employees to succeed. He's also a Certified Professional Life Coach and a Certified Gallup Strengths Coach. He loves to coach people, write, and speak around the topics of engagement, coaching, strengths, and growth. He blogs often at ChrisHeinz.com.